The fifth annual Brooklyn Rock Lottery took place on Saturday (12/6) at Baby's All Right. Members of bands convened that morning, with names being drawn out of a hat by five drummers to make the ad-hoc bands, who then spent the rest of the day writing and rehearsing original songs that would be performed that night at the venue. It was a sold out show and proceeds from the evening went to the Harmony Program, "a non-profit organization that brings after school music programs to communities with limited access to instrumental music education." We've got pictures from the whole day, rehearsals and everything, in this post

I've been to a few of the past Rock Lotteries and this was by far the most stacked line-up of participating musicians which also yielded some good music that worked beyond the novelty of seeing these supergroups. (It was also a lot of fun.) The luck of the draw also gave us some strange/awesome bands: LOVVLIFE featured four bassists (from Parquet Courts, Mutilation Rites, St. Lucia and more) which made for a lot of "could I get more bass in the monitor" jokes as well as a cover of Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom."

The DMV (Dave Matthew's Vibe) featured Rick Froberg (Obits, Drive Like Jehu), Drew Citron (Beverly), and Annie Hart (Au Revoir Simone). They worked up a krauty vibe and I'd go see them play again if they were a real band. And TBOI (The Beatles on iTunes), which featured Dismemberment Plan's Travis Morrison and members of So So Glos, Jukebox the Ghost and Wet Illustrated, pretty much played like a real band with songs that some "real" bands probably would've gladly had in their arsenal.

The evening began and finished with the two most eclectic groups. Fraud Stewart included members of TEEN, Spirit Family Reunion, Crocodiles, Sebadoh and the styles of their songs varied depending on who was singing; and then Friend of a Friend, which included Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Brian Chase, trumpeter Carter Yasutake, cellist Julia Kent, marimba player Mauro Refosco and Neighbors' Noah Stitelman, finished the evening with a cohesive-but-avant-garde pop set that would've been at home at The Stone.

Hosting the evening was Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington who interviewed the bands, helped give away raffle prizes (he made winners rub noses and other body parts with him) and also made videos of him singing long versions of "Jingle Bells" and "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" and generally yukked it up.

Brooklyn garage punk greats Obits played a one-off in their hometown this past Saturday (11/22) at Brooklyn Night Bazaar with Survival Knife, Hungry Ghost and Pink Avalanche. Anyone catch that? How was it? You can check out a video of them from that show, below.

Obits have now announced their next hometown show which happens New Year's Eve at Acheron, which is a pretty small venue and it sounds like this will be one of the rowdier NYE options in NYC. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Obits frontman Rick Froberg is also one of the many Brooklyn artists taking part in this year's Brooklyn Rock Lottery which also includes members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Parquet Courts, Dismemberment Plan and more. Plus, since we last spoke, members of Girls Against Boys, Mutilation Rites, St. Lucia and more were added, as well as MC Tim Harrington (Les Savy Fav). Updated lineup below.

It's looking like official Festival Lineup Announcement Day with Shaky Knees Fest, Hangout Fest, and Governors Ball giving us their rosters (not to mention Firefly and Coachella in the past week), and now here's another one: Georgia's CounterPoint Festival. It goes down from April 25-27 in Kingston Downs and features Outkast, Janelle Monae, Schoolboy Q, Run the Jewels, Chance the Rapper, Thundercat, Rustie, Sleigh Bells, Matt & Kim, Major Lazer, XXYYXX, J. Cole, Tourist, A-Trak, Flosstradamus, Phantogram, Tycho, YACHT and more.

As mentioned, Savoir Adore are headlining Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday (9/21) with openers The Suzan, plus Ski Lodge, who were more recently added to the bill. The MHOW show is their biggest hometown show to date and they're sporting an extra-large version of the band with members of St. Lucia and Jukebox the Ghost adding extra percussion. Tickets are still available.

In our current age of instant hype, Savoir Adore have taken their time, rising steadily -- perhaps stealthily -- over the last five years through old fashioned hard work. That, and an ear for hooks and giant choruses that burrow into your head and refuse to leave. Those melodic skills can be heard on the band's second album, Our Nature, which was self-released last year and was picked up by Nettwerk this year. The new single off the album is "Regalia" and we've got the premiere of the Mighty Five remix of that song. You can stream that, and watch the video for it too, below.

Savoir Adore also did a BV Studio Session not too long ago and have a couple more East Coast shows after MHOW. Those dates are listed below.

When last seen, at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park last year, Kendrick Lamar was still a relative unknown except to hip-hop connoisseurs. His set came off as hazy and introspective, with a curious Lady Gaga hanging on every word from the wings. But now he emerges with newfound swagger -- even without Gaga in the house -- smoke machines at his feet and a full band at his back. His 2012 album, "good kid, m.A.A.d. city," puts a new and brilliantly introspective take on West Coast gangsta rap, a look at its tropes and pressures from the inside out. So even as he leads the crowd in some explicit choruses, he throws out questions and lays out his conflicts in the verses. "This will be on the Internet," he announces. Ya think? The audience cheers him like a rock star, even when he stands on stage with arms folded. But he doesn't just bask in the glow. He tries to put it in context, much in the way his rhymes try to make sense of hip-hop and the culture that birthed it. "You can't classify what we got going on," he says to the fans. "This is life." [Chicago Tribune]

Lollapalooza 2013 continued yesterday (8/3) in Chicago's Grant Park, with nicer weather than day 1, and sets from eight stages worth of artists, including The Postal Service, Kendrick Lamar, Haim, Foals, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Local Natives and more. Pictures of those (and other) artists are in this post, and we've got a second set of Saturday pics HEREon the way with more artists. But not any of Death Grips.

The festival wraps up today (8/4) (check out our Sunday preview) with sets from Cat Power, Phoenix, The Cure, Beach House, Grizzly Bear, Alt-J, Baroness, Angel Haze, and more. If you're not at the festival, you can stream it live at Lollapalooza.com.

Peace are currently on their first full North American tour with Team Spirit which will hit NYC on June 11 at Knitting Factory (tickets) and June 12 at Mercury Lounge (tickets). The band's debut album, In Love, is out now in the UK but has yet to see release in North America. You can check out the video to the band's current single, "Lovesick," below.

Peace will also be opening some dates of Two Door Cinema Club's recently announced fall tour that also includes St. Lucia (who play Governors Ball this weekend) on all dates. All of those dates with openers are listed below.

That tour's NYC stop at Hammerstein Ballroom on October 11 sold out quickly, and so they've added a second Hammerstein show happening the day before (10/10). Tickets for the new NYC show go on AmEx and BrooklynVegan Presale (true story) at noon. The presale password, much like the name of our new NYC-show-specific twitter, is BVNYCSHOWS (Update: and the presale is working now!).

Tickets to see the Hurricane Sandy relief benefit with Chris Cornell at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at 3 PM.

Toots & the Maytals celebrate their 70th birthday at The Capitol Theatre on December 7. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Dead Kennedys (sans Jello Biafra) are playing Gramercy Theatre on February 12. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Black Marble are playing Glasslands on December 7 with a DJ set from TRUST. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

There's a listening party for Toro Y Moi's forthcoming album, Anything in Return, happening at Project Parlor in Bed-Stuy. It's from 5 - 10 PM and features an art installation from Chaz (who is Toro Y Moi) with drawings for all 13 tracks on the new LP. It's free and complimentary drinks will be served.

Tickets to see The Airborne Toxic Event at Webster Hall are on sale today at noon.

Though her debut album is still in the works, Charli XCX performed like a pop star already headlining arenas: Her tortured but hardly wounded alto never wavered on breakout ballad "Stay Away," while an air of tragic consequence tinged her delivery of "You give yourself to hell" during her cover of Echo and the Bunnymen's "Killing Moon." While perhaps not all Charli XCX cuts are created equal - there's something a tad tiring in the repetition of "End of the World" or "How Can I" - the ones that stand out do so for good reason. She crooned on top of a sample of Gold Panda's indelible "You," sent all of Bowery into a frenzy with "Nuclear Seasons," and brought the world down on "Grins," (from her mixtape Heartbreaks and Earthquakes), a cut produced by Blood Diamonds with synths that soar in catastrophic bliss. The night ended with "You're The One," ostensibly the first single from Charli XCX's debut, and this time she put her foot down: "Everyone's gotta fuckin dance," she decreed. Watching her jump and flail around - a bonkers freeform style that seemed part hardcore mosh pit fist work, part hip-hop posturing, and part all night alone in your bedroom dance-a-thon - it was hard not to obey. [Rolling Stone]

Charli XCX brought her tour, which also included an LA show with Azealia Banks, to NYC this past Saturday (7/28) for a show at Bowery Ballroom with St. Lucia. Charli's set was 10 songs long and and there was no encore, despite the crowd's demand for one. More pictures from the show, including one of the setlist, below.

The Shins, after recently played Coachella, teamed with opener St. Lucia at Terminal 5 last night (4/29), the first of their three night, sold out residency at the venue which continues tonight with Chairlift (and then Real Estate). The set saw The Shins dipping into material new and old, and bringing out Dirty Projectors vocalists Haley Dekle and Amber Coffman to assist on a rendition of "Phantom Limb" (by The Shins, not Pig Destroyer). More pictures and the setlist from last night's show are below...

As mentioned, The Shins (who are part of the just-announced Lollapalooza lineup) are heading out on tour in support of their recently released LP, Port of Morrow. That tour hits NYC at Terminal 5 for three shows. The openers for those shows have been announced and it's St. Lucia on 4/29, Chairlift on 4/30, and Real Estate on 5/1. The show with St. Lucia is sold out but tickets for the other two shows are available. We're also giving away a pair of tickets to the 4/30 show with Chairlift. Details on how to enter to win tix are with all tour dates below.

Meanwhile, Chairlift has other dates coming up including a headlining show at Webster Hall on May 8. Tickets for that show are still on sale. Like The Shins, Chairlift are also playing Lollapalooza this year.

--Real Estate @ the 40 Watt in Athens, GA - April 7, 2012

Real Estate, who played the 40 Watt in Athens on Saturday and are in Austin tonight, have other upcoming dates too, including a tour with Twerps and two other dates with The Shins in Boston and Philly.

The Pianos show is part of a 2-floor, free party that also includes downstairs sets by St. Lucia (part of their February residency at the LES venue) and Tiny Victories, and upstairs music by MNDR (DJ set), Make Out & Psychobuildings. Flyer below.

Devin's debut LP, Romancing, is out on April 10th, via Frenckiss who also released his 3-song EP at the end of 2011. The full album tracklist and all tour dates are below...

UK-by-way-of-Australia electronic duo Monarchy made their live NYC debut on December 10 at Highline Ballroom featuring support from St. Lucia. The show was one of only a pair of East Coast dates (NYC and DC) after playing shows at Coachella and on the West Coast earlier this year. Pictures and a video from Highline Ballroom are below.

The DC show didn't go so smoothly though, though it had little to do with their performance..

While we played in Washington DC on Thursday, a girl scammed into our dressing room and stole two of our masks. One of these is an expensive, custom made mask that is irreplaceable. It may have been taken by the girl, or left around the venue. If you took it, or picked it up, can you please return it to the venue, or by contacting monarchysound@gmail.com and we'll arrange pickup. We won't ask any questions, or take action, we just need the mask back. Please do the right thing and return it, we'd appreciate it. Thanks.

So far the band has not received the mask back yet and they did report that the thief brazenly "was in the audience wearing one of our masks. It was very 'Being John Malkovich'". They had a better time in NYC

NEW YORK - The first solo album by singer-songwriter PETER DOHERTY (Babyshambles, The Libertines) is complete, and scheduled for North American release on Astralwerks on March 24, 2009, the label announced today.

The album, Grace/Wasteland, was recorded over a month of sessions in autumn 2008 at London's legendary Olympic Studios with producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs). Street also produced the 2007 top 5 U.K. album Shotter's Nation by Babyshambles, Doherty's current band.

Album collaborators include guitarist Graham Coxon (Blur), who plays throughout the album; Scottish singer Dot Allison, who co-wrote the duet "Sheepskin Tearaway," which was also featured on Babyshambles' live DVD Up the Shambles; and poet Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe, co-writer and guitarist on "Broken Love Song". Doherty had previously made a guest appearance on Wolfe's U.K. No. 7 single and Ivor Novello Award-nominated song "For Lovers".

Also contributing are Babyshambles members Mick Whitnall on guitar, Drew McConnell on bass, and Adam Ficek on drums.

Further album tracks include "Arcadie," "Through the Looking Glass," "Salome," and "1839 Returning."

With the Libertines, Peter Doherty recorded the U.K. No 1. album The Libertines, and the U.K. No. 2 single "Can't Stand Me Now." Babyshambles have released two U.K. Top 10 albums, Down in Albion (2004) and Shotter's Nation (2007). He is also the author of The Books of Albion: The Collected Works of Peter Doherty (Orion Books, 2007). Doherty was named Hero of the Year in February 2008 at the Shockwaves NME Awards.